Fiber-cleaning machine.



L. SUMMERS. FIBER CLEANING MACHINE.

L. L. SUMMERS. FIBER CLEANING MACHINE. I APPLICATION FILED DEG. 9, 1907.988 722. Patented NOV.2,1909.

3 SHEET8-SHEET 2.

L. L. SUMMERS.

FIBER CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLIUATION FILED 13130.9, 190?.

Patented Nov. 2,1909

3 SHEETS-S HEET 3,

all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LELAND L. SUMMERS,

citizen of the United States, residing at hicago, Cook county, Illinois,have inventd certain new and useful Improvements in iber-CleaningMachines, of which the folowing is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of cleaning and preparing fiber, such asflax fiber, iemp fiber, etc., and has for its object the rovision of amachine so constructed and operated as to separte the fiber from thewoody materials of the stalk in an efficient and economical manner andwithout affecting or impairing in any way the strength f the fiber.

My invention is embodied in a fiax cleaning machine of the type havingbreaking blades designed and adapted to break or beat the fiber by theirdepression upon and in cooperation with a fixed grid, and having also aconveyer system by means of which the fiber is successively movedforward or advanced, the fiber being preferably successively advancedduring intervals between the blows of the breaking blades.

My invention relates more particularly to the construction andarrangement of these breaking blades whereby provision is made for atransverse movement of the fiber from the end thereof inwardly towardthe center of middle line of the grid without any possibility ofbreaking or impairing the fiber, and a subsequent transverse movement ofthe fiber across the grid from one set of blades to the other, and tothis end the breaking blades, which are placed side by side, arealternately pivoted at opposite ends. By preference, these breakingblades are arranged in sets of two pairs of blades each, the pairs ofblades being pivoted at opposite ends.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying myinvention; Fig. 2 is a series of sections on the lines o o, w w, ac, yy, z z of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a sectional elevation on the line 33 of Fig. 1,but made on a somewhat larger scale; Fig. 4 a sectional plan viewillustrating the arrangement of the sets of breaking blades, such viewbeing a plan view of the breaking blades illustrated in Fig. 1, and theeccentric rods being shown in section on the line H of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 anenlarged detail Specification of Letters Patent.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELAND L. SUMMERS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE SUMMERS FIBERCOMPANY, OF PORT HURON, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

FIBER-CLEANING MACHINE.

Patented Nov. 2, 1909.

Application filed December 9, 1907. I Serial No. 405,821;

view of one of the sets of four breaking blades such as illustrated inFig. 2.

Referring to the present embodiment of my invention as illustrated inthe drawings, I mount upon a suitable frame A a series of parallel barsB which, as herein shown, are in the form of a fixed grid. With thisgrid cooperates a series of breaking blades which are adapted to bedepressed toward the grid and to enter slightly in the interstices inthe grid, with the result that the fiber which is carried across thegrid longitudinally of the machine is indented or convoluted so the thewoody material of the stalk becomes broken and more or less disengagedfrom the fiber. These breaking blades are arranged in two sets orseries, of which the series C are pivoted at their rearward or righthand ends to a fixed part of the machine at 0, while the series ofbreaking blades D are pivoted at their forward or left hand ends to afixed part of the machine at (Z (Fig. 1). Moreover, the members of thetwo sets or series of breaking blades are parallel andalternate witheach other. Furthermore, these blades, instead of being straight, areslightly curved or angular, as shown in Fig. l, the greater portion oftheir length being, however, horizontal and positioned in proximity tothe grid. As clearly shown in Fig. 4c, the breaking blades are connectedat their outer ends in pairs and alternate with the members of theopposing pairs.

In order to operate the different sets of breaking blades at the propertime and to occasion the successive breaking action or blows from thecenter of the grid outwardly in opposite directions, I provide suitablemechanism for raising and lowering these blades at the proper time.According to the present illustrated construction, I employ for thispurpose a series of eccentrics E which are mounted upon a shaft E havingsuitable driving connections, as for instance the drive pulley F,sprocket wheel F sprocket chain G and sprocket wheel G These eccentricswhich correspond in number to the number of pairs of-breaking bladesemployed, have different angular positions or adjustments upon the shaftE for. producing the operation of the difierent breaking blades at theproper and desired times and in the proper order. Each ec-- centric isprovided with an eccentric strap 0 and an eccentric rod 6 which latteris I progressing outwardly in opposite directions to the opposite sidesof such grid. In the present instance I have illustrated five differentsets or groups of these blades, the innermost or middle set being marked1 and the similar sets on opposite sides thereof being marked 2, 3, aand 5. Referring to Fig. 2, the set 1 descends first, followed by thetwo sets of blades marked 2, which in turn are followed by the two setsof blades 3 and so on, until the outermost set 5 act, with the resultthat the blades, which are here shown as 34 in number, descendsuccessively in groups and at regular intervals. Inasmuch as the strawor fiber is fed longitudinally upon the upper surface of the grid, thesame is longitudinally held or bound first by the set 1 and by the othersets of blades in regular succession, as just explained.

Upon the descent or depression of the innermost set of blades 1, thestraw or fiber is rigidly held at its central portion and upon thedescent of the sets of blades 2 the straw or fiber is drawn from itsouter or free portion and clamped thereby. Upon the descent of the setsof blades 3, a further inward movement of thefiber is effected and thisinward movement thereof continues in succession until the descent of theblades 5. If the sets of blades were pivoted on the same end, therewould be a tendency to bind the fiber between the four blades of thesame set. This is prevented by the fact that in each set of four bladestwo of the blades are pivoted at one end as at c and two of them at theother end as at d, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 4t. Moreover,owing to the described location of the pivots and the shape of theblades a further effect in the cleaning of the fiber is accomplished,for on the first descent of the blades only the blades C engage thestrawor fiber, the blades D being out of contact by reason of the shape ofthe blades and location of thepivot. The straw is thus forced into thespaces in the fixed grid and convoluted and indented only by the bladesC, the woody portion of the straw being broken and crushed by the bladesin contact with the grid. As the straw or fiber is further advanced bythe conveyer mechanism hereinafter described the blades D begin toengage the straw or fiber, at first slightly and then entirely, as

the blades C having diminished their effect on the straw are out ofcontact with the straw.

The blades D engage the straw at first slightly and later the entireconvoluting and indenting of the straw is done by the blades D, theblades C being entirely out of contact. The breaking effect is therebytransferred from the blades C to the blades D as the convolution orindentation given the straw first by the blades C has been transferredfrom the space occupied by the blades C to the space occupied. bythe'blades D, the effect has been to cause a transverse movement of thefiber across the grid. This transverse movement of the fiber by thetransfer in the breaking from one set of blades to the other, isillustrated diagrann'natically in the Fig. 2. In the cross-section o othe fiber has been convoluted by the blades C, the blades D beingentirely out of depressing contact. At the point ww the blades D beginto engage the fiber slightly. As the fiber is approaching the pivot Cand receding from the pivot (Z the natural effect is to diminish thestroke or depression of the blades C, and increase the stroke ordepression of the blades D. At the point wm the motion of these bladeswill be equal, as the distance from the pivots is practically equal. Atthe cross-section y Q the breaking effect of the blades C is greatlydiminished, while that of the blades D has increased. At thecross-section 22 the blades C have ceased to engage the fiber, while thebreaking effect from the blades D is at a maximum, due to the stroke ordepression of the blades D being at a maximum by reason of the locationof the pivot d, in other words, while the action of the different setsof breaking blades is what may be termed successive, the effect thereofis overlapping in its character. In this manner the contact with thestraw or fiber and the breaking efiect is transferred from the spaces inthe grid occupied by one set of blades to the spaces occupied by theother set of blades, the effect being to cause a greatly increasedtransverse motion of the fiber across the surface of the grid, and toincrease the breaking or cleaning effect. In order to augment thiseffect, the blades C and D are Moreover, the various blades of the setmay i also be of slightly difierent shape or be cut away or notched sothat the time of engaging the fiber or method of engaging may be variedas is well known in the art.

The machine is provided with a conveyer which may be of any of the typeswell known in the art for conveying the straw longitudinally of themachine. In the present instance as shown in Fig. 1 I employ a conveyerII driven at one end by means of a ratchet I, the pawl 2' of whichisactuated from the main shaft E which carries the eccentrics throughthe medium of the connecting rod J connected at its upper end with thesprocket wheel G and at its lower end to a crank arm j on whose outerend said pawl is pivotally mounted. In this manner the conveyer chain hmay be moved forward during the interval when the eccentrics have liftedthe breaking plates out of contact with the grid.

I claim:

1. In a fiber cleaning machine having a fixed grid, two sets of movableblades pivoted at opposite ends and alternately placed side by sidealong the grid producing a transverse movement of the fiber, and meansfor actuating the blades; substantially as described.

2. In a fiber cleaning machine, the con bination of a fixed grid, aseries of breaking blades arranged to cooperate therewith andalternately pivoted at opposite ends, and means for actuating saidblades successively from the center of the grid outwardly in oppositedirections; substantially as described.

3. In a fiber cleaning machine, the combination, with a fixed grid, ofsets of blades arranged to cooperate therewith and to thereby indent orconvolute the fiber on the grid, said blades being alternately pivotedat opposite ends and arranged parallel to each other, and means foractuating the sets of blades separately and causing a set of blades toengage the fiber before the blades of the precedingly acting set havebecome disengaged from the fiber; substantially as described.

4. In a fiber cleaning machine, the combination of a fixed grid, aseries of breaking blades arranged to cooperate therewith andalternately pivoted at opposite ends, and a series of differently timedeccentrics opera tivcly connected with the blades and arranged toactuate the middle blades first and the others successively thereafterfrom the middle outward; substantially as described.

5. In a fiber cleaning machine, the combination of a fixed grid, aseries of breaking blades arranged to cooperate therewith andalternately pivoted at opposite ends, said blades being angular andparallel to each other, and means for depressing the blades toward thegrid in succession beginning at the middle and progressing outwardly,thereby causin a horizontal and transverse movement of t 1e fiber;substantially as described.

6. In a fiber cleaning machine, the combination of a fixed grid, aseries of breaking blades arranged to cooperate therewith andalternately pivoted at opposite ends, said blades being arranged in setsof two pairs of blades each, the different pairs of blades being pivotedat opposite ends, and means for actuating said blades; substantially asdescribed.

7. In a fiber cleaning machine, the combination of a fixed grid, aseries of breaking blades arranged to cooperate therewith andalternately pivoted at opposite ends, said blades being arranged in setsof two pairs of blades each, the different pairs of blades being pivotedat opposite ends, and means for actuating said blades comprisingeccentrics and eccentric rods connected with their respective pairs ofblades; substantially as described.

LELAND L. SUMMERS.

l/Vitnesses S. E. HIBBEN, LoUIs B. ERWIN.

